Discussion
P-Jay said:
I'm sure there's an Reddit AMA with Dekota Fred I've read, but I can't find it now, anyway, as I remember it.
He was hired by Discovery to act as an advisor / mentor for Todd in series 1 on a salary befitting a contractor.
The Claim they were using was fairly useless, it was / is an abandoned mine, that others gave up on as it was hard to mine and had poor gold, despite that the fact that based solely on it's geography it possibly could have. Due to the surprise popularity of the show, it was moved to another, larger claim (but still not what would be considered a 'proper' claim by people who actually work in the industry) and Discovery asked Fred to continue to mine the original claim - it was supposed to be almost an instructional thing - 'here's how it's meant to be done' but Discovery had long shifted from making documentaries into "Stylised Reality Shows" so wanted lots of drama - including the supposed stealing of the claim by Fred.
The mine was wasn't big enough to mine on an industrial scale, nor was is rich enough in gold or easy enough to mine profitably - Fred couldn't make any money from mining it, and he knew that, and Discovery wouldn't pay him the same appearance fees as Todd and his band of Merry f
kwits so what's the point? I think it came to a head when they wanted him to mine the top of a mountain with a wooden micro-plant and no water supply.
Certainly sounds like the reasoning Fred himself would give. He was hired by Discovery to act as an advisor / mentor for Todd in series 1 on a salary befitting a contractor.
The Claim they were using was fairly useless, it was / is an abandoned mine, that others gave up on as it was hard to mine and had poor gold, despite that the fact that based solely on it's geography it possibly could have. Due to the surprise popularity of the show, it was moved to another, larger claim (but still not what would be considered a 'proper' claim by people who actually work in the industry) and Discovery asked Fred to continue to mine the original claim - it was supposed to be almost an instructional thing - 'here's how it's meant to be done' but Discovery had long shifted from making documentaries into "Stylised Reality Shows" so wanted lots of drama - including the supposed stealing of the claim by Fred.
The mine was wasn't big enough to mine on an industrial scale, nor was is rich enough in gold or easy enough to mine profitably - Fred couldn't make any money from mining it, and he knew that, and Discovery wouldn't pay him the same appearance fees as Todd and his band of Merry f
kwits so what's the point? I think it came to a head when they wanted him to mine the top of a mountain with a wooden micro-plant and no water supply. 
I wonder what the truth is, we'll never know for sure i suppose.
I think they could easily stretch the series to twice as many episodes, or 2 hour shows. There must be so much the decided not to add to the broadcast. I bet they still recorded a Hoffman cleanup. What about the prep-work for Parker's new claim next door to Tony Beets? Has he done nothing 'this week'?
Maybe they just need a 'geeks follow-on show' for those who are really into it.
Maybe they just need a 'geeks follow-on show' for those who are really into it.
dom9 said:
They didn't seem to give a total for Todd...
Assume it wasn't bad though as it was only the 3rd wash plant this episode focussed on, which I assume means the other two were fine.
I do think both Tony and Parker could do with being a bit 'nicer' to their employees!
Don't believe everything you see/hear on tv - a lot of Parker "mouthing off" at his crew is dubbed over a long shot of the machinery/claim they're supposedly arguing on - suggesting that Parker didn't say those words during the conversation where their faces are actually being filmed.Assume it wasn't bad though as it was only the 3rd wash plant this episode focussed on, which I assume means the other two were fine.
I do think both Tony and Parker could do with being a bit 'nicer' to their employees!
On top of that, some of Parker's remarks seem clipped to my ears, suggesting you're not getting the full content of what he did actually say.
I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he didn't actually say those things at that time, or at least didn't say them the way they're broadcast. It's all in the editing.
A good example was last series when the Hoffman's had another one of their routine disasters and had to shut the plant down. They dubbed Todd shouting "Shut 'Er Down!" dubbed over a shot of the malfunctioning wash plant, only Todd wasn't working at that site!
That soundbite of Todd's is constantly used now whenever the Hoffman's have to shut the plant down.
Another reason Parker's mine is better than the Hoffman's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UqhV3O--kE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UqhV3O--kE
donny1 said:
Still love this show but...
getting a bit silly though
toyota tundra advert? that was just strange.
The whole Parker engine thing had some suspect editing.
Todd and son argument, how stupidly scripted was that?
The amount of machines the Hoffmans have in some of the wide shots is crazy.
The Todd argument was ridiculous. It wasn't even a conversation...they were running overburden through the plant! getting a bit silly though
toyota tundra advert? that was just strange.
The whole Parker engine thing had some suspect editing.
Todd and son argument, how stupidly scripted was that?
The amount of machines the Hoffmans have in some of the wide shots is crazy.
London424 said:
donny1 said:
Still love this show but...
getting a bit silly though
toyota tundra advert? that was just strange.
The whole Parker engine thing had some suspect editing.
Todd and son argument, how stupidly scripted was that?
The amount of machines the Hoffmans have in some of the wide shots is crazy.
The Todd argument was ridiculous. It wasn't even a conversation...they were running overburden through the plant! getting a bit silly though
toyota tundra advert? that was just strange.
The whole Parker engine thing had some suspect editing.
Todd and son argument, how stupidly scripted was that?
The amount of machines the Hoffmans have in some of the wide shots is crazy.
On a side note, how the hell does Parker get fuel up to his claim, they must go through hundreds of gallons weekly, yet it's supposedly in the middle of nowhere?
I didn't understand the strategy from either Todd or sons point of view.
Jack tells the son that there was no gold in his clean up and straight away he goes and shuts Todd's operation down telling him there is no gold in the ground.
Why does he not check his sluicing operation to see if there is any issues with this?
Why not do a cleanup on Todd's operation to see if there was any gold in it to further clarify it was an issue with the ground.
Agree with the above that the ground didn't look like paydirt but you would have thought one of them would have been able to identify that visually before putting it anywhere near the plant.
I don't think i'll ever stop watching it for as long as it's on but as a lot of previous posters have mentioned it is starting to get a bit samey and predictable.
Jack tells the son that there was no gold in his clean up and straight away he goes and shuts Todd's operation down telling him there is no gold in the ground.
Why does he not check his sluicing operation to see if there is any issues with this?
Why not do a cleanup on Todd's operation to see if there was any gold in it to further clarify it was an issue with the ground.
Agree with the above that the ground didn't look like paydirt but you would have thought one of them would have been able to identify that visually before putting it anywhere near the plant.
I don't think i'll ever stop watching it for as long as it's on but as a lot of previous posters have mentioned it is starting to get a bit samey and predictable.
R8Steve said:
I didn't understand the strategy from either Todd or sons point of view.
Jack tells the son that there was no gold in his clean up and straight away he goes and shuts Todd's operation down telling him there is no gold in the ground.
Why does he not check his sluicing operation to see if there is any issues with this?
Why not do a cleanup on Todd's operation to see if there was any gold in it to further clarify it was an issue with the ground.
Agree with the above that the ground didn't look like paydirt but you would have thought one of them would have been able to identify that visually before putting it anywhere near the plant.
I don't think i'll ever stop watching it for as long as it's on but as a lot of previous posters have mentioned it is starting to get a bit samey and predictable.
It clearly wasn't paydirt. It was top soil. With a very small amount of gold in it. The whole thing is scripted and preplanned. Jack tells the son that there was no gold in his clean up and straight away he goes and shuts Todd's operation down telling him there is no gold in the ground.
Why does he not check his sluicing operation to see if there is any issues with this?
Why not do a cleanup on Todd's operation to see if there was any gold in it to further clarify it was an issue with the ground.
Agree with the above that the ground didn't look like paydirt but you would have thought one of them would have been able to identify that visually before putting it anywhere near the plant.
I don't think i'll ever stop watching it for as long as it's on but as a lot of previous posters have mentioned it is starting to get a bit samey and predictable.
No comments on this week's episode then?
Tony's dredge seems to be unbelievably productive, I'm struggling to understand how he isn't seeing a lot more competitors knocking on his door with the results he pulled out last season and in the little time he's run this season, not to mention why did the previous dredgers abandon it in the first place if it's pulling out so much gold with so little effort? Could they be combining gold from all his operations and giving the credit to the dredge?
The Hoffman's circus goes from bad to worse - the timeline of them running and not running seems hasn't been made clear and shutting down both plants for a "show of solidarity" at the council offices was an absolute gong show: reality TV at its worst.
The decision to crank up Parker's second plant was incredibly dubious too - I struggle to believe Rick made that decision despite all his team's advice against it for anything other than upping the drama factor.
Tony's dredge seems to be unbelievably productive, I'm struggling to understand how he isn't seeing a lot more competitors knocking on his door with the results he pulled out last season and in the little time he's run this season, not to mention why did the previous dredgers abandon it in the first place if it's pulling out so much gold with so little effort? Could they be combining gold from all his operations and giving the credit to the dredge?
The Hoffman's circus goes from bad to worse - the timeline of them running and not running seems hasn't been made clear and shutting down both plants for a "show of solidarity" at the council offices was an absolute gong show: reality TV at its worst.
The decision to crank up Parker's second plant was incredibly dubious too - I struggle to believe Rick made that decision despite all his team's advice against it for anything other than upping the drama factor.
cpt_unsensible said:
Tony's dredge is productive in using less fuel and fewer staff, but I think the gold is coming from having the best ground he has kept for himself rather then lease it out to someone like Parker.
Maybe, but if he can pull out 300 Oz in a few days, why did the original dredges stop dredging?Gassing Station | TV, Film, Video Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff